Well the season has now well and truly started even if no one remembered to tell the wind. My broken elbow no longer stops me sailing although it does make some pretty horrible noises. I guess it sounds like having a ratchet block in my arm (you can hear it clicking every time I straighten or bend my elbow). However my physio assures me it is not bone on bone or I would be in unbelievable amounts of pain! So I continue to have physio twice a week to get the bicep to relax and let go, allowing the arm to straighten fully. I have also recently had acupuncture: after all if someone stuck pins in me I would let go!

The good thing about having time off is that it has given me plenty of time to do some writing which also helps me think about sailing tactics, even if I have not always got it right myself! Also looking at the big picture: My first Olympic campaign was in a Laser: it is clear now that I was way too small for this to be practical; my second was in the 49er but unfortunately I had to pull out when two of the discs in my neck prolapsed, and my third campaign was going to be in the Tornado but this lost its status as an Olympic class. Currently I am committed this year to coaching both Sail for Gold and the Pre-Olympics and I wonder what 2012 will bring!

So far I feel I have had a productive year. I have been working with Neil Pryde on sailing gear. It is amazing what a difference good sailing gear makes. One of the things I like the most is the difference grippy hikers make. Much like doing pilates, you do not so much notice the benefit of doing it (having the hikers) but you really notice the loss when you don’t (you start slipping up and down the decks). In fact the kit is so good I have at times been too warm at the Radial Spring Qualifiers… something which has never happened to me before!

I also continue to work with Gareth Griffiths on the Laser rigging: getting ropes for the primary control lines which do not go flat (and break the blocks). We are trying out a traveller with a cover so that it is not slippery (like pure Dyneema) as this leads to the traveller blocks slipping inboard in light winds and can allow the rope to slip in the cleat. We are also trying to consider the average Laser sailor: for example we recently went back up to 4mm and started using a shorter rope which was kinder on the hands (not everyone sails five days a week and has tough hands) for those times when you pull the rope, not the handle.

Lastly, Crew Fuel has been very useful in trying to increase protein intake without eating half a cow each week. I have found the sachets very useful although my energy requirements in recent weeks have been down as we haven’t had very much wind!!!

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